Five couriers jailed over 460 kg of cannabis flown to Birmingham

On 22 October 2026, Birmingham Crown Court sentenced five members of a drug-smuggling gang that tried to import cannabis worth £13.8 million through Birmingham Airport.^[1] Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, and Ryan Boachie, 32, were each jailed for 24 months; Claire McCullough, 36, got 24 months plus two consecutive months for assaulting a shop worker; Jaden Ramen, 23, was sentenced to 32 months; and Paige Crisp, 25, to 30 months.^[1][2] Crisp and Ramen were convicted on 19 August after a four-week trial, while the others had pleaded guilty.^[2] Two more members, Tasia Nelson and Jamal Clarke, are due to be sentenced on 30 October.^[1][2]

Border Force officers arrested the eleven-strong group in August 2024, when they found 460 kg of cannabis packed into 22 suitcases arriving from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle.^[1] Each courier carried two suitcases holding about 20 kg of vacuum-packed cannabis under a thin layer of clothing, luggage so heavy they paid excess baggage charges at Bangkok airport.^[1][2] Eight of the bags held Apple AirTags connected to the same Apple ID, and intelligence linking the passengers to others on connecting flights into Birmingham led officers to fully staff the nothing-to-declare channel, where the drugs were found.^[1][2]

Four other couriers in the same conspiracy were sentenced on 21 September: Bradley Lloyd to four years, Nathan Vitorino and Lewis Ross to two years and eight months each, and Carsten Kyei to two and a half years.^[1][2] Senior investigating officer Paul Boniface said the convictions should warn others that smuggling is not worth the risk, and thanked Border Force for finding the drugs.^[1][2] NCA figures show 801 cannabis couriers caught arriving by plane in 2024, 976 in 2025, and 600 more arrested between January and June 2026.^[1][2]